Ed Sheeran’s first album released in 2011 under the label Asylum Records.

This album will sell 4 million copies with the singles Drunk, You need me I don’t need you, Lego House (Top 5 in the UK), The A Team, Small Bump and Give me love.
This album is a good example of an album recorded digitally with 2 different mastering, CD and Digital.

For this review, you will find 4 versions tested: vinyl, CD, Streaming Amazon and Tidal Dolby Atmos.

Find the reviews of the other Ed Sheeran’s albums:

• – (Subtract)
• =

Below you will find the description of the different editions, as well as the measurements of each edition in the following chapters.
The synthesis of the review and the samples are available here

Technical:

• Mastered At Abbey Road Studios by Christian Wright

The album includes the following tracks:

1. The A Team
2. Drunk
3. U. N. I.
4. Grade 8
5. Wake Me Up
6. Small Bump
7. This
8. The City
9. Lego House
10. You Need Me, I Don’t Need You
11. Kiss Me
12. Give Me Love
13. The Parting Glass
14. Autumn Leaves*
15. Little Bird*
16. Gold Rush*
17. Sunburn*

* only on the CD Deluxe Album and Tidal Dolby Atmos

First we will analyze each edition in detail (technical and qualitative analysis), then we will compare the successive editions with their dynamics and assign a final score, and you will be able to listen some samples.

The streaming versions may evolve over time, those presented here correspond to the version tested at the date of publication, or update of the review.

Summary

Review of the editions:

Ed1 : Vinyl label ASYLUM ref : 5052498774906 , 2011

Ed2 : CD Deluxe ASYLUM ref : 5052498646555, 2011

Ed3 : Streaming HD Album, Stereo, 16bit 44.1kHz, 2011

Ed4 : Tidal Dolby Atmos, 2011

Go to Dynamic

Go to Notation/Rating/Samples

Review

Ed1 : Vinyl label ASYLUM ref : 5052498774906 , 2011

Presentation

Label	ASYLUM
Reference	5052498774906
Format (speed)	Vinyl 12” (33.33 rpm)
Type	Album
Master	Digital
Mastering/Pressing	Pressed by Optimal Media Production
Original recording	Digital
State	Europe
Year original	2011
Year production	2011

Waveform

This edition of the vinyl is dynamic. The waveform confirm the value of DR12

To compare with the Ed2 (CD), the signal of the Side A.

Spectrum

The Spectrum allows to check the tonal balance of the music (balance between low, medium and high sounds) and to detect treatments that may have been carried out during the recording, during the mixing, mastering or media manufacturing process. With this measurement, it is also possible to detect frequency interference problems.

 The spectrum represents the average frequency distribution over the second title. The interesting features on this curve are the following:

1. The high frequency cuts at 20kHz (yellow) which is the maximum frequency of the digital master.
2. The treble level above 10kHz (Green) is higher than on the Ed2, this confirms what we saw on the signal representation, and results in a higher DR.

Ed2 : CD Deluxe ASYLUM ref : 5052498646555, 2011

Presentation

Label	ASYLUM
Reference	5052498646555
Format (speed)	CD
Type	Album CD Deluxe
Master	Digital 16/44.1
Mastering/Pressing	Digital
Original recording	Digital
State	Europe
Year original	2011
Year production	2011

Waveform

The mastering of the cd is different from the vinyl. with a DR10, the mastering uses compression to give more level. In the graph below, the sound level is higher than in the vinyl edition. There is a decrease in details

 To get a better idea of the impact of the compression that increases the overall level, here is the signal of the songs on the CD (the same tracks as the A side of the vinyl).You can clearly see that the level is high. And that certain peaks present on the vinyl are erased.

Spectrum

 The curve represents the average frequency distribution over the second title. The interesting features on this curve are the following:

1. Like all editions, the high frequency cuts to 20kHz (Yellow) which is the maximum frequency of the digital master.
2. The treble level above 10 kHz (Green) is decreasing. This results in a lower dynamic range than the Vinyl release (Ed1). The trebles are less precise, less detailed when listening.

Ed3 : Streaming HD Album, Stereo, 16bit 44.1kHz, 2011

Presentation

Label	ASYLUM
Reference	Streaming Qobuz
Format (speed)	CD
Type	16/44.1
Master	Digital 16/44.1
Mastering/Pressing	Digital
Original recording	Digital
State	Europe
Year original	2011
Year production	2011

Waveform

The mastering of the Streaming is similar from the CD. With a DR9, the mastering does used compression like CD.

Here is the signal of the songs on the Streaming (the same tracks as the A side of the vinyl).

Spectrum

The curve represents the average frequency distribution over the track 2 Interesting characteristic on this curve is that the spectrum between the two versions is identical.

Ed4 : Tidal Dolby Atmos, 2011

Presentation

Label	ASYLUM
Reference	Streaming Tidal Dolby Atmos
Format (speed)	Dolby Atmos
Type	Dolby Digital Plus , Dolby AC-4
Master	Dolby Atmos
Mastering/Pressing	Digital
Original recording	Digital
State	Europe
Year original	2011
Year production	2022

Waveform

The mastering of the Dolby Atmos Binaural is different from the digital stereo release (CD and Streaming). With a DR12, the mastering does not used compression like CD.

Here is the signal of the songs on the Dolby Atmos Binaural (the same tracks as the A side of the vinyl). You can clearly see that is more dynamic than the CD.

Spectrum

The curve represents the average frequency distribution over the track 2.

The front channels (green arrow) have a higher average sound level than the other channels, especially with respect to the LFE channel (blue arrow) which is hardly used.
The yellow arrow indicates the limit at 20 kHz which is due to the Dolby Digital Plus encoding which limits the maximum frequency to optimize the encoding.

Spatialization

Spatialization allows you to define the sound distribution of the music on all the channels. The spatialization indicator and the description of the graph are described here.

The listening of this first album remixed in Dolby Atmos is a very good surprise. While we could expect to remain centered on the front, we find a lot of song that fully exploits the spatialization, with an extension of the guitar to the side speakers.

Below the spatialization for the 16 tracks of Tidal Dolby Atmos version. Click on the images to zoom in.

Dynamic

Dynamic represents the ability to reproduce a wide range of sounds from the softest to the loudest.

More the dynamic is high, more the natural side of the recording is respected. For psycho-acoustic reasons, record companies tend to compress the sound, i.e. to reduce the gap between the weakest and the strongest sound to give an impression of power to listening. 

Measuring the dynamics of a measurement, is a complex process, which can be done in different ways but generally on a logarithmic scale. The ITU has standardized the way to measure the dynamic of a recording but here we will use another technique based on the TT Meter software from the Algorithmix company which is widely used by the community to create comparative databases of different albums.

For our 4 editions we have obtained the following Dynamic Range (DR):

	Ed1 (Vinyl)	Ed2 (CD)	Ed3 (Streaming)	Ed4 Dolby Atmos
Global	DR12	DR10	DR9	DR12
Min	DR10	DR8	DR8	DR9
Max	DR14	DR13	DR13	DR14
The A Team	DR12	DR11	DR8	DR12
Drunk	DR11	DR9	DR9	DR14
U. N. I.	DR12	DR10	DR10	DR11
Grade 8	DR13	DR10	DR10	DR14
Wake Me Up	DR14	DR13	DR13	DR11
Small Bump	DR10	DR8	DR8	DR12
This	DR11	DR10	DR10	DR15
The City	DR12	DR9	DR9	DR14
Lego House	DR12	DR8	DR8	DR12
You Need Me, I Don’t Need You	DR12	DR9	DR9	DR13
Kiss Me	DR13	DR10	DR10	DR9
Give Me Love	DR11	DR8	DR8	DR13
Autumn Leaves*		DR10		DR11
Little Bird*		DR9		DR13
Gold Rush*		DR12		DR11
Sunburn*		DR11		DR14

The DR vary globally from 9 to 12, which is a good dynamic for the vinyl release and Streaming release. There are even tracks above DR14.

As a reminder, the scale goes from 0 to just over 20, but the dynamics are considered good from 12, quite good between 10 and 11, and deteriorate below 10.
A low DR deviation (1 or 2) may be due to compression or a different treble level. Indeed, an increase in trebles has the effect of accentuating the perception of dynamics during listening but also during measuring.
The CD release have a lower DR10 which will be seen on the signal representation of both editions.

Notation/Rating/Samples:

Ed1: + . Vinyl  label ASYLUM ref : 5052498774906 , 2011.

This is a good quality vinyl, with correct dynamics and precise highs. This is audible with Ed Sheeran’s guitar playing. From this point of view, the listening is more precise than the CD.
However, the sides are very long, with more than 24 minutes.
This impacts the level of the vinyl which is 6 dB lower than other vinyls. This indirectly impacts the surface noise which is correct, but not in the best ones.
For the following albums, the problem was solved by using two discs.

• Rating :
  • Dynamic: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Surface noise: ●●●oo (3/5)
  • Restitution: ●●●●o (4/5)

• 3 samples : “Smal Bump” (Sample1) ,”Give Me Love” (Sample 2) and “U.N.I.” (Sample 3) 24 bits 176.4kHz:

 Ed2 : + . CD Deluxe ASYLUM ref : 5052498646555, 2011.

The CD is more compressed than vinyl, but fortunately the compression doesn’t go below a DR10 on average.
Less precise on the rendering, especially on the guitar, it brings the quality of the CD with the silence on the lowest levels.

• Rating:
  • Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
  • Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5/5)

• 3 samples : “Smal Bump” (Sample1) ,”Give Me Love” (Sample 2) and “U.N.I.” (Sample 3) 16 bits 44.1kHz.

 Ed3 : Streaming HD Album, Stereo, 16bit 44.1kHz, 2011.

The Streaming Qobuz is similar to CD for most tracks.

• Rating:
  • Dynamic: ●●●oo (3/5)
  • Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Restitution: ●●●oo (3.5/5)

• 3 samples : “Smal Bump” (Sample1) ,”Give Me Love” (Sample 2) and “U.N.I.” (Sample 3) 16 bits 44.1kHz.

 Ed4 : Tidal Dolby Atmos, 2011.

The Dolby Atmos version brings more dynamics than the digital stereo versions, either in binaural or in 7.1.4. The mix brings a beautiful spatialization and immerses us directly in the music.

• Rating:
  • Dynamic: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Bandwidth: ●●●●o (4/5)
  • Spatialization: ●●●●●●●ooo (7.3)
  • Restitution: ●●●●o (4/5)

• 3 samples : “Smal Bump” (Sample1) ,”Give Me Love” (Sample 2) and “U.N.I.” (Sample 3) in Dolby Atmos decoded in 5.1.

The sample is in 5.1 wav format, if you can not play the sample in your navigator, you can save it, right button menu and “Save Audio As…” and play it with an external player.

For the best rendering, the CD and streaming versions have a good rendering but lose in precision and dynamics on the passages with a high sound level compared to the Dolby Atmos version. This Dolby Atmos version is certainly the closest to the dynamics of the original tracks with in addition a beautiful precision and spatialization of the sound rendering. The vinyl offers a more pleasant rendering of the guitar and more warm of the voice compared to the other versions. After, it is a personal choice, you can make your own idea by listening to the samples.

*The level has been adjusted to have the same RMS level for an easier comparison.

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Detail of the ratings :

• Dynamic :
  1. Significant dynamic compression, DR less than 7
  2. Compression of the present dynamics, DR between 7 and 9.
  3. Correct piece DR >=10
  4. No dynamic compression (DR >12), dynamic rendering
  5. No dynamic compression, high DR and very dynamic sound rendering
• Spectrum :
  1. Spectrum cut and less than 15 khz
  2. Spectrum cut at 15 khz
  3. Spectrum not conforming to the original and cut (not HD) or original but limited bandwidth (but less than 20 kHz)
  4. Spectrum conforming to the original (but not HD)
  5. Spectrum conforming to the original with HD resolution (higher than 24kHz)
• Surface noise (only for vinyl):
  1. Continuous audible noise
  2. Audible surface noise except on passages with a high level of noise
  3. Reduced surface noise, barely audible on low level crossings
  4. Low surface noise, very good quality
  5. Very low surface noise, no defects, almost inaudible on the quiet passages (exceptional disc)
• Spatialization :
  • Between 0 and 5 for 5.1 or 7.1 channels configuration
  • Between 0 and 10 for Atmos configuration (7.1.4)
  • For more information on spatialization, you can read the article describing this parameter here.
• Restitution :
  1. Low quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
  2. Average quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments.
  3. Quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Good record.
  4. High quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Very high level disc.
  5. Maximum quality of the restitution mixing dynamics, clarity, separation of voices and instruments. Exceptional disc.